REAX to Nazem Kadri's body fat
Cam Charron
September 28 2012 03:58PM
Nazem Kadri drinking pure corn syrup. Image via Peter J. Thompson/National Post
The original comments that we heard about Nazem Kadri having "unacceptable" levels of fitness from Toronto Marlies' head coach Dallas Eakins on the first day of training camp may have been a bit overblown.
We'll follow up to our morning post with reactions to the news throughout the hockey blogosphere and mainstream sports media, which also includes a bizarre conspiracy theory…
Nazem Kadri's fitness isn't a big issue, for now
Cam Charron
September 28 2012 10:22AM
Image via Jonas Siegel's Twitter account
It took less than an hour for the first Toronto Maple Leafs'-related controversy to manifest itself out of Marlies camp this morning. Nazem Kadri, who spent all offseason with Gary Roberts, underwhelmed in Dallas Eakins' physical tests to start off camp.
Per Jonas Siegel:
Kadri didn't exact blow away the competition in on-ice testing. D'Amigo and Deschamps far stronger in the final test.
— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) September 28, 2012
Siegel also quotes Dallas Eakins as saying that "His body fat today is probably in the bottom three to five guys in our whole camp and that's unacceptable."
But this isn't a huge, huge problem. For now.
Marlies coach Dallas Eakins meets the press, and other leaflets
Cam Charron
September 27 2012 02:42PM
"I don't know if I ever feel pressure. I think pressure's when you're sitting in a foxhole in Baghdad or somewhere and you're trying to save a guy's life. That's pressure." — Dallas Eakins
Well, that quote right at the end of the video caught me off guard. A lot of reporters, on the first day of Toronto Marlies' camp, were looking to get head coach Dallas Eakins' thoughts on being the only game in town this fall. To Eakins' credit, he doesn't reply very often in clichés unless he is being directed by a questioner to answer in clichés.
Rest of the video after the jump, and some takeaways. If you still have time, links.
Jay McClement, Killing penalties
Cam Charron
September 27 2012 11:15AM
Yesterday I showed off one play featuring new Toronto Maple Leafs third-or-fourth-line centreman Jay McClement killing a penalty and how Colorado used him to be one of the more effective PK units in the NHL last season.
Officially, the Avalanche were 12th in PK success rate. They were 11th, however, in goals against per 60 minutes at 4-on-5 and 4th in the NHL in shots against. In the same categories, Toronto were 28th, 25th and 18th. There's lots the Leafs can take away from the way the Avs killed penalties.
That fourth Maple Leafs defenceman, and other Leaflets
Cam Charron
September 26 2012 02:49PM
Today on Twitter there was an informal discussion, as is wont to happen on that particular medium, about the fourth Leafs' defenceman on the penalty kill. Ryan wrote about Komisarek earlier today, while I broke down a Pittsburgh zone entry that paints Komisarek in a bad light. Here's the rest of the entry, and some added thoughts and afternoon links:
